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Manabí province’s two largest cities generated $20.5 million in tourism revenue during the four-day Carnival holiday, with Manta recording 90% hotel occupancy and the Mariana Fest alone drawing 60,000 people to El Murciélago beach.
A group of individuals dragged a dolphin ashore at Crucita beach in Manabí during Carnival and gutted it in front of dozens of tourists and a police officer. Ecuador’s Environment Minister has ordered a criminal investigation under wildlife protection laws that carry up to three years in prison.
Gunmen opened fire with more than 50 rounds at a group gathered in a northern Guayaquil park near a school late Wednesday night, killing four people aged 25 to 65 and wounding two others in the latest act of sicario violence in the city.
President Daniel Noboa will join five other Latin American leaders at a Trump-hosted summit in Miami on March 7, forming a regional bloc focused on countering China’s influence, boosting security cooperation, and expanding trade — with Ecuador’s new US deal as the centerpiece.
The International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts, and Tourism has awarded Ecuador's Manabí province the title of World Region of Gastronomy 2026 — the first in Latin America — recognizing its peanut-based culinary traditions, ceviches, and sustainable food culture.
Ecuador's Naval Oceanographic Institute warns of agitated seas and dangerous rip currents along the entire Pacific coastline on February 17, as a spring tide coincides with Carnival's peak beach crowds. Salinas alone expected up to 300,000 visitors this weekend.
Ecuador’s annual inflation rate hit a 20-month high in January 2026, driven almost entirely by a 20.79% spike in housing and utility costs after the government ended electricity and diesel subsidies. Food prices are rising too — plantains have roughly doubled, and the basic family basket now costs $822 a month.
Washington and Quito have 'substantially concluded' negotiations on a reciprocal trade agreement set to be signed in coming weeks. But Ecuador's biggest non-oil export to the U.S. — shrimp worth $2 billion a year — may not get the tariff relief the industry needs to survive.
A man was shot dead by hitmen Friday morning in Manta's Ceibo Renacer sector, bringing the body count to 66 in 44 days. A separate massacre in Santa Ana marked the third mass-killing event in Manabí province this year.
Ecuador's coast just got a significant internet upgrade. Seven 5G radio base stations are now operational in Manta, making it one of the first mid-sized cities outside Quito and Guayaquil to join the national 5G rollout.
Vice President María José Pinto launched Ecuador's 2026 National Dengue Plan and Gran Minga Comunitaria, targeting 1,532 critical sectors across seven provinces that accounted for 40% of last year's cases. Rainy season interventions begin immediately in Esmeraldas, Guayas, Santa Elena, Manabí, El Oro, Napo, and Pastaza.
Gunmen opened fire at the artisanal fishing pier in San Vicente, Manabí, on February 9, killing at least four fishermen and injuring one. The attack occurred in a canton under an active state of emergency and raises fresh concerns about safety in Ecuador's coastal beach towns.